Gook: John McCain's Racism & Why It Matters

Hats off to author Irwin Tang, who has placed out there in the universe an accessible account and analysis of John McCain's "gook" slur incident from the 2000 election.  The revelations of his book, Gook: John McCain's Racism & Why It Matters, may not exactly come as a shock to Asian Americans, of course, but it recalls an incident that was likely little more than a tiny political ripple for non-Asians, and who may not see why it's "all that big a deal" anyway... In a review by African American critic Kam Williams on IMDiversity.com Asian American Village, the importance of the book is not so much in its mere explanation of how and why the slur is offensive and hurtful to Asian Americans in patricular (which can be easily discounted by conservatives as just a hypersensitive minority "playing the race card" or being "P.C."), although that will certainly ring true for APA readers.  More to the point,  Williams observes, it is valuable for what it indicates about the temperament, worldview and likely diplomatic outlook of a candidate who

"has courted the support of numerous white supremacist organizations over the course of his checkered political career. Most importantly, he then shows why this warmonger cannot be trusted to set the tone for tolerance either domestically or in terms of international affairs, given his history of dehumanizing ethnic and religious groups he doesn’t care for."

In an era when our country's standing in the world has been rendered so precarious, its challenges abroad rapidly mounting, and its citizenry diverse and polarized, a leader who can't control the demons of his past among fellow citizens before the national media is a dangerous proposition.  Unless, Williams suggests, we are willing to resign ourselves to living in a perpetually divided nation in which hatred of difference just doesn't matter.  Williams asks:

"Have we as a country really become so desensitized to hate speech that we’re willing to elect someone President who so openly stereotypes and acknowledges his dislike of a large segment of the society he is supposed to govern?"

The review concludes with a full-throated salute to Irwin Tang:

"Irwin Tang, not John McCain, is the true American patriot. For, at considerable risk to his own personal safety, the author of this shocking expose’ has revealed the Republican presidential nominee as little more than an incendiary race-baiter more reminiscent of a Jim Crow-era segregationist than a straight-talking maverick."

This is sensitively noted by Williams, who, as an African American, understands the divisions within Asian America between those who want to act up and those who caution us to keep our heads down -- those had wanted to hold McCain accountable for his indiscretion in 2000 and those who were willing to play the model minority, let it slide and not make waves-- especially (but not exclusively) among old-guard Vietnamese Americans aligned with the GOP, who "gave him a pass".

John McCain Hates Me

This theme is explored further in "Gook" Slur Revisited, Raising Questions about McCain Temperament, from the same article series, which examines more deeply how "the specter of forgotten 2000 campaign controversy is finding new focus in videos, and blogs throughout Web 2.0," and not just among Asian Americans. The piece highlights a video by Tang speaking about the topic of his book now circulating among others about McCain's slur on YouTube, as well as a straightforward, less academic video, John McCain Hates Me by Kevin Cassinova.

"While Tang makes an important, well-documented statement about race-baiting and anti-Asian sentiment in political elections for non-Asian audiences, it's the Cassinova video that may hit home most powerfully for Asian Americans. It's no surprise to us that politicians of all parties have always been able to score cheap points by stereotyping, demonizing and bashing Asians. But by articulating our deeper inner feelings about the experience of racism -- and the misgivings these inspire in us about the values and leadership potential of candidates, and the apparent punching-bag status we hold in our society, even if we're too insecure to raise them publicly -- Cassinova's video gives voice to the unease about McCain that many of us harbored, unexpressed, since 2000."

Asian Republicans in Exile

Another part of the series, The GOP's "Asian" Problem, zeroes in on the sad effects of our in-community divisions, and APA Republicans' continuing slide from a position of favored constituency to barely-visible attack dogs within their party.  Once considered 'natural Republicans' whose loyalties were taken for granted, Asian Americans are being push ever-further to the Party margins. Although I have argued and tried to document elsewhere that this is part of a consistent pattern ever since we collectively backed the first Senior Bush against Clinton, the process appears to have accelerated this year. I believe our cousins across the aisle are clinging to old, no-longer-earned loyalties to the GOP.  Whether it's out of an outdated notion that the Party is inherently more "anti-Communist" in the post-Cold War era, or the new immigrants' impulse to be hyperassimilationist and "outwhite the whites" and see themselves as vying for turf against other minority groups, APAs who are standing up for the GOP find themselves in a tough spot having to defend Palin/McCain in particular.  In a year of Unprecedented AAPI Presence in the Democratic Party, my Republican cousins find themselves in an uneviable position. They must hold their noses to back a candidate who scores points as a "straight-talking maverick" among much of his base for publicly slurring Asians;  to celebrate an Asian American outreach rally in Virginia featuring George Macaca Allen as a headliner; to "represent" within a Party whose official line is to deny the legitimacy of identity politics; and to attack as "racist" anyone (including those represented on this site) who made the obvious observation that the 4-day RNC convention was devoid of any APA presence after its sole (dare we say "token"?) Asian American headliner, Bobby Jindal, pulled out very admirably in order to do his job.

Gooks of the World, Unite!

As we enter the final month of this historic election, the point of all this renewed focus on John McCain's past hate speech is nothing so trivial as just calling him out as a "racist".  We face grave problems in a country, and whether or not John McCain Hates Me is least among them.  But, as with the 2006 midterm elections' "macaca incident", Asian Americans have an opportunity (perhaps responsibility) to contribute to social progress by communicating just what the "gook" incident means and why it matters to our fellow citizens -- on the canvassing beat, in media, or around the kitchen table in our own homes. While preparing this post, I was describing it to a Korean American friend who became more and more uncomfortable every time I spoke the word "gook". Finally, she halted me and said, "Please don't say that word again!  I know it's the point you're trying to make, but I just can't hear it any more!" I understand this reaction, and feel it my own gut, in my quickening pulse, too.  But I think it's important and necessary that we take this expression of hatred, appropriate it, and hold it up to the light of the day.  Make "gook" stand for something important -- make it a badge of honor -- make it a bumper sticker; say it out loud, "John McCain Hates Me!" with pride and create group on Facebook or MySpace!  Force your shocked cousins and neighbors to ask you Why? Then direct them to Kevin Cassinova and Irwin Tang, and tell them Why John McCain's Racism Matters. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bli6JNWDU-0[/youtube]